NFL News SEMI-OT: NFL Network and RedZONE sold....... to ESPN..

DaBruinz · Feb 2, 2026

As if things couldn't get worse for the NFL Broadcast world. ESPN now owns NFL Network and NFL RedZone.

ESPN’s NFL Media Takeover Closed at the Perfect Time

In exchange for $3 billion of ESPN equity, the NFL has given control of NFL Network and a piece of NFL RedZone, with more football on ESPN this year.

www.sportico.com

Pape · Feb 2, 2026

thats miserable...

as bad as the nfl network was, now its going to be filled with the flapping lips from bristol...

Bill Lee · Feb 2, 2026

Pape said:
thats miserable...

as bad as the nfl network was, not its going to be filled with the flapping lips from bristol...

I agree. NFLN was meh, ESPN is ....

fnordcircle · Feb 2, 2026

Enshittification.

The inevitable end result for pretty much anything with good quality is that it gets spun off, sold, and its corpse sucked dry of everything good. Because we have to have unlimited growth. Because we've stopped thinking of greed as bad. It's just business. Gordon Gecko, etc.

I lost my job of 14 years because $0.48 profit from every dollar of revenue wasn't enough we had to get to $0.52. Hundreds of people laid off based purely on salary. $0.52 was the target so that they could sell and the dozen or so people on the ELT could rake in millions on the backs of laying off 1/3rd of the workforce including people who built that company from the ground up.

jdlboot14 · Feb 2, 2026

soon everything NFL is going to be controlled by Disney and it's globalist overlords
I hope they don't ruin football like they ruined basketball.
who knows, they might even come after this wonderful loyal forum.

Clonamery · Feb 2, 2026

fnordcircle said:
Enshittification.

The inevitable end result for pretty much anything with good quality is that it gets spun off, sold, and its corpse sucked dry of everything good. Because we have to have unlimited growth. Because we've stopped thinking of greed as bad. It's just business. Gordon Gecko, etc.

I lost my job of 14 years because $0.48 profit from every dollar of revenue wasn't enough we had to get to $0.52. Hundreds of people laid off based purely on salary. $0.52 was the target so that they could sell and the dozen or so people on the ELT could rake in millions on the backs of laying off 1/3rd of the workforce including people who built that company from the ground up.

Is this football or politics? I can't tell.

NovaScotiaPatsFan · Feb 2, 2026

Pretty soon the entire world will be owned by one giant megacorp.

NovaScotiaPatsFan · Feb 2, 2026

jdlboot14 said:
who knows, they might even come after this wonderful loyal forum.

I have it on Good authority that Ian would only sell if I were given a 50 million dollar stipend as part of the deal for my years of loyalty.

SpartanStar · Feb 3, 2026

NovaScotiaPatsFan said:
Pretty soon the entire world will be owned by one giant megacorp.

It already is...

Bill Lee · Feb 3, 2026

fnordcircle said:
Enshittification.

The inevitable end result for pretty much anything with good quality is that it gets spun off, sold, and its corpse sucked dry of everything good. Because we have to have unlimited growth. Because we've stopped thinking of greed as bad. It's just business. Gordon Gecko, etc.

I lost my job of 14 years because $0.48 profit from every dollar of revenue wasn't enough we had to get to $0.52. Hundreds of people laid off based purely on salary. $0.52 was the target so that they could sell and the dozen or so people on the ELT could rake in millions on the backs of laying off 1/3rd of the workforce including people who built that company from the ground up.

Goes back to the junk bond phenomena of the 1980s, IMO.

Before then it was OK to talk about a corporation's sustainability. They would have things like a "rainy day fund" to let them ride out downturns in the business landscape.

All of a sudden that became a non-performing asset. Shareholder value had to be unlocked. Sustainability be damned!

Therefore it became grow or die, because you had no buffer.

Everyone involved knew this was what was happening, but as they saw the personal benefit to it all they took the money and kept their mouths shut.

JMC00 · Feb 3, 2026

This has been known since before the season

JoeSixPat · Feb 3, 2026

Up next:

NFL Announces Each Quarter Of Playoff Game Will Be Broadcast On Different Streaming Service

U.S. — In its ongoing effort to make watching football as difficult as possible, the National Football League announced today that each quarter of the playoff games will be exclusively streamed on a different streaming network.

babylonbee.com

PlainOldEd · Feb 3, 2026

Wasn't ESPN hemorrhaging money and firing all it's on air "talent" not too long ago?

Bill Lee · Feb 3, 2026

PlainOldEd said:
Wasn't ESPN hemorrhaging money and firing all it's on air "talent" not too long ago?

Yep. Also NFL was trying to sell NFLN for years, with no takers. This is a marriage of convenience. ESPN gets a bunch of cash from NFL, NFL gets to dump NFLN onto ESPN. ESPN will take the meat cleavers to the remnants of NFLN in a way that would be bad optics for NFL itself to do, whereas it's relatively easy for ESPN to do given how well-known ESPN's tendency to have layoffs is.

The common thread is that both were/are over-invested in cable TV. Once the "franchise fees" from CATV dried up, both of these businesses were no longer viable. Both have struggled to adapt to the post-CATV world. They simply have cost structures that their revenue streams can't cover. They have the hope that streaming will some day save it all, but I think we're seeing a lot of reluctance from consumers on having to add yet another expensive streaming service to their monthly budgets. This deal may have bought ESPN a year or so, but IMO it's still circling the toilet bowl.

Huckleberry1 · Feb 3, 2026

fnordcircle said:
Enshittification.

The inevitable end result for pretty much anything with good quality is that it gets spun off, sold, and its corpse sucked dry of everything good. Because we have to have unlimited growth. Because we've stopped thinking of greed as bad. It's just business. Gordon Gecko, etc.

I lost my job of 14 years because $0.48 profit from every dollar of revenue wasn't enough we had to get to $0.52. Hundreds of people laid off based purely on salary. $0.52 was the target so that they could sell and the dozen or so people on the ELT could rake in millions on the backs of laying off 1/3rd of the workforce including people who built that company from the ground up.

It's disgraceful.

JoeSixPat · Feb 3, 2026

PlainOldEd said:
Wasn't ESPN hemorrhaging money and firing all it's on air "talent" not too long ago?

It's a stupid idea and will never work

DaBruinz · Feb 3, 2026

PlainOldEd said:
Wasn't ESPN hemorrhaging money and firing all it's on air "talent" not too long ago?

Yep. But when Disney writes you a blank check to take control of the NFL media...

NovaScotiaPatsFan · Feb 3, 2026

Man, did I pick a great year to step back from football after or what?

My thoughts will be with you, friends.

18	431

NFL News SEMI-OT: NFL Network and RedZONE sold....... to ESPN..

Pats, B's, Sox

PatsFans.com Supporter

What, me worry?

The poster who James White said inspires him.

In the Starting Line-Up

Girls just wanna have fun

I'm Down From Canada and they think I'm slow, eh?

I'm Down From Canada and they think I'm slow, eh?

Rookie

Attachments

What, me worry?

Pro Bowl Player

Pro Bowl Player

In the Starting Line-Up

What, me worry?

PatsFans.com Supporter

Pro Bowl Player

Pats, B's, Sox

I'm Down From Canada and they think I'm slow, eh?

Similar threads

📅 This Week in Patriots History: